Breakin’ All the Rules (review)

Wed May 19 2004, 11:15pm | comments off

Breaking all the rules? Which ones would those be, exactly? The ones about comedies being funny? Romantic movies being romantic? Movies about relationships having some kind of insight into human nature? They’re broken, all right. If one movie could prove once and for all that dating is a blight on humanity, this dismal, depressing flick could be it. Jamie Foxx’s magazine writer pens a bestseller about how to “fire” a girlfriend — which translates to “a guide for spineless men to rid themselves of scheming women” — and as he and his pals put the advice into action, multiple absurd mistaken-identity complications ensue as everyone plays a mechanical game of musical beds. The mysteries of attraction are reduced to manipulation, and there’s not a shred of intimacy, friendship, or even horny desperation in anything anyone does. Men and women alike, from those seeking grand passion to those just looking to get laid, should be insulted to be lumped into the same species with these people.

MPAA: rated PG-13 for sexual material/humor and language

viewed at a semipublic screening with an audience of critics and ordinary moviegoers